Specific acts of kindness

[fimbrethil]

We've all heard the expression "Random Acts of Kindness". The idea is simply that you do good things for people without any real reason. The general idea is to do something just to make the other person smile. An example would be to put money in a parking meter that is about to expire. Generally though, the notion is that you do this for strangers. I guess it's assumed that people automatically do acts of kindness for people they know in their lives. I don't think that is automatically true. For example, take my relationship with my mom which is pretty strained and difficult, and that's on good days. I see her every day but I don't spend much time there. I do what is required of me as a "good daughter" and not much more. During Lent, I am supposed to be focusing on charity, fasting and sacrifice. Why should charity be limited to organizations and/or people I don't know? This year I decided to make a serious effort to be charitable toward Mom, with a specific goal of making her life happier. I'm hoping that it will become habit forming. It's one thing to help someone because you feel obligated and another thing entirely to do things to make their lives easier, less stressful and more enjoyable. The other day, I treated Mom to Chinese food because she had had foot surgery that day and was craving soup. I bought her soup, a shrimp roll and pork fried rice. Not something she should have every day but as a treat once in a while, it is okay. She was delighted. I wouldn't let her pay for it either. That was on Tuesday. Today, she is still telling me how much it meant to her that I did that and how good the meal was. She actually stretched it out over 3 days and was quite content. It only took some thought and $8.50 to bring a little joy into my mother's life.

So, I'm going out of my way as a general thing to perform specific acts of kindness. I'm taking the time to do specific things for specific people in my life to let them know they are special and cared for. That doesn't mean I'll stop putting quarters in random people's meters, it just means I'll also go the extra mile for those I love.